The Oklahoma City Thunder traded Victor Oladipo to the Pacers in their deal for Paul George, and he may finally be in the right situation.

Coming out of Indiana, Victor Oladipo was one of the best products in a lackluster draft. In his three years with the Hoosiers, the All-American showcased nice two-way potential and had the size to be a capable shooting guard at the next level. Oladipo’s junior season was his best, by far. He averaged 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals a game for Indiana, who finished the season 29-7 before losing to Syracuse in the Sweet 16. The accolades poured in.

Oladipo was a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Award (Trey Burke brought in both); he won the NABC’s Defensive Player of the Year, the Rupp Trophy and Sporting News named him their Player of the Year.

Also Read: Paul George Is The Ideal Complement To Russell Westbrook

The Orlando Magic drafted him second overall in 2013. And it’s been nothing but ups and downs for four seasons. In Orlando, it’s tough for anyone to succeed. The organization has floundered since moving on from Dwight Howard, seemingly stuck in basketball purgatory. Everyone knows they stink. However, they’re the least talked about of the laughing-stock franchises. Oladipo entered that situation and was expected to change everything.

To be fair, few are capable of doing that. Even fewer can do it as a rookie, and those are the generational talents. Victor Oladipo does not check those boxes. However, he was — and still is — a solid piece to build around.

His rookie season with the Magic went well — actually, very well. In 80 games, 44 of which were starts, Oladipo averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals in 31.1 minutes. He landed on the All-Rookie first team and finished second behind Michael Carter-Williams in Rookie of the Year voting. Orlando felt his impact on defense almost immediately, and the Magic allowed 105.8 points per 100 with Oladipo on the floor, compared to 110.9 when he sat.

The length and athleticism played a role but, coming from Indiana he had the defensive-first mentality and the blue collar work ethic. Oladipo’s offense was a work in progress, but that’s an easy fix. And that fix was evident during his second year. Orlando used Oladipo as a combo guard and a secondary ball handler to Elfrid Payton. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked. In year two, Oladipo became more focused on scoring instead of playmaking, and it clear that the game was beginning to feel effortless. He averaged 17.9 points while shooting 43.6 percent from the field — not a stratospheric jump, but a jump nonetheless. He continued to drop dimes (4.1) and play lockdown defense, but the Magic were still terrible.

A brilliant individual season got washed away by a 25-57 record, which included a coaching change after 52 games. One thing was evident — Oladipo looked comfortable as a second-option on offense and was just a reliable jumper away from overtaking Nikola Vucevic as the Magic’s leading scorer.

The summer of 2015 was an optimistic one. As the season drew closer, the Magic looked like they wouldn’t be a total dumpster fire. Vucevic and Oladipo were going out alongside Tobias Harris and Evan (Don’t Google) Fournier with Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon being guys to watch from afar. On Dec. 30, the Magic had a 19-13 record and were playing excellent basketball. They finished 35-47.

Oladipo was 23-years-old and had a smaller role than years past, statistically. His minutes were at 33.0 a night, and he was getting 13.5 shots with a usage rate of 22.9, down from 25.2 in his second year. The Magic alleviated some of his duties, and it worked out great, even if the numbers took a hit. Oladipo put up fewer points (16.0) and assists (3.9) but boasted a career-best PER (16.7) and true shooting percentage (53.4). His defense was still outstanding, and better shooting worked wonders for Orlando’s offense.

However, once they faltered, it was worth questioning Oladipo’s fit. The blame wouldn’t fall on him. Instead, we’d look at the Magic and see if they were just wasting his talent. And they were. He was getting better each year, but Orlando just couldn’t get out of their rut, and trading him away with Ersan Ilyasova and Domantas Sabonis in June of 2016 was a great decision.

The Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook duo would warrant nearly all the attention, thus giving Oladipo a plethora of open looks. His range was improving, and the Thunder would benefit significantly from his defense. Most importantly, he was an upgrade from Dion Waiters, and a potential starting lineup with Steven Adams, Andre Roberson and Oladipo complementing Westbrook and Durant is attention-grabbing.

Another possible scenario was Oladipo coming off the bench and leading the second unit with Enes Kanter. It’s not as scary as the first situation, but it would get the job done and allow Billy Donovan to go to his bench without worrying about either side of the ball.

As we all know, none of this happened. Durant left. We didn’t know that was going to happen, but we knew that Russell Westbrook was going to take over the league and play with an iceberg-sized chip on his shoulder. It becomes Westbrook’s world.

His obscene usage percentage rendered his teammates nearly useless, and that included Oladipo. The future MVP became the 19th player in league history to shot more than 1,900 shots in a season. Doing that over 81 games worked out to 24.0 a night, leaving few shots for everyone else. Oladipo was getting about 14 (13.9) per game, and his three-point attempt rate soared to a career-high 37.8 — it was 29.1 in 2016. Luckily, he improved his stroke and buried 36.1 percent of his shots from downtown. If it were any less, it would’ve been a very long campaign for the fourth-year guard.

The way Westbrook played last season doesn’t make his teammates better. When the MVP debate was at its peak, I voted against him for that very reason. That doesn’t mean I dislike him. It also doesn’t take anything away from what he did. I thoroughly enjoyed Westbrook’s dominance and am thankful for the chance to witness history.

He went out every night and wanted to destroy his opponents. Whether or not Durant’s move hurt Russ isn’t worth talking about anymore, but his unrelenting attack for an entire season makes it seem like he was. Because of that attitude, Westbrook wasn’t passing unless he had to. If three guys met him at the basket, he’d pass; if someone had an open jumper with two seconds left on the shot clock, he’d pass; if he got tired of carrying the offense for 27 straight possessions, he’d pass.

Those aren’t ideal circumstances for a complementary scorer who’s trying to make rhythm shots with no rhythm. Of course, there’s a flipside to this. Maybe the Thunder thought Oladipo would develop into a bigger threat as the season went along and flipped him for Paul George when that didn’t happen. It’s far-fetched to believe that, but the NBA is a weird place.

As Oladipo gears up for his fifth season, Indiana may finally be the place he blooms. They’re building for the future. With the 11th-youngest roster in the NBA, per RealGM, Indiana has a healthy balance of youth and experience, with Myles Turner being the centerpiece. Oddly enough, this team is similar to what the Magic had during Oladipo’s last year, and it’ll allow him to get back to his old style of play. He’ll likely be the second-option to Turner, but guys like Bojan Bogdanovic and even Thaddeus Young can take over that role and give defenses different looks.

Also Read: Thunder Optimistic Westbrook Signs Extension

I expect to see a steady rise in three-point percentage because his one year with the Thunder was enough to instill some confidence. What’s paramount, though, is Oladipo can focus on attacking, getting into the lane and drawing fouls, a part of his game the move to Oklahoma City severely impacted.

He’s not going to lose anything on defense, either. The loss of George is going to hurt, but Oladipo is a nice safety net even if he plays a different position. (Besides, Nate McMillan has never been a defensive-first head coach.)

Victor Oladipo has had a fascinating four-year run. He’s been on the cusp of exploding for the last two seasons or so but has gotten stuck in a bad position after bad position. The Magic had a myriad of issues. His year with Oklahoma City was a case of wrong place, wrong time, and I don’t blame Sam Presti for dealing him for George — when a player of that caliber is available for almost nothing, you hop on it. Going forward, Oladipo is now in a place where he can reach his full potential. 

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